Monthly Archive for April, 2007

Gas Prices

Published
by
Michael
on April 29, 2007
in Journal
. 0 Comments

Friday I saw something surprising at a local gas station: The “Unleaded Plus” price was less than the regular unleaded price ($3.03 for regular, $3.00 for plus). My guess is that this is because petroleum prices have gone up while ethanol has come down. (The unleaded plus here contains 10% ethanol.)

When I first moved here to southern Illinois, the regular and unleaded prices at my most frequented gas station were always the same, or not more than one cent more for plus. Later, due to military action in the Middle East, both prices went way up, and the plus was a few cents more. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the plus prices lower, although both prices are very high relative to five years ago.

UR INVTD

Published
by
Michael
on April 26, 2007
in Humor and Technology
. 0 Comments

With one of my coworkers, Adam, getting married very shortly, my thoughts turned to the innumerable details that swarm from the very mention of the word, “wedding.” Of all the elements that make for a successful wedding, perhaps none captures the attention of the graphic designer as the wedding announcement and invitation. Should that glad day eventually wend its way into my plans, I am sure that designing a fabulous and memorable card will be high on my priority list.

Unfortunately, for many brides- and grooms-to-be, it is also a burdensome expense. Sending custom cards to hundreds of potential attendees, as well as to those you full well know will not attend but would be mad if you didn’t invite them, can cost no small sum. This started me thinking about alternatives. Not that I would use these myself (honest!), but perhaps someone will find a lifesaver here.

Aside from the obvious but in-law displeasing option of not sending cards, the clearest choice seems to be making use of the internet. One could send an HTML-formatted email, with links to a custom website designed with all kinds of glitter and glow, for nothing. For those lacking time and talent, a plain old text message could suffice. Black on white is popular for printed cards, after all.

But if we’re wanting to use the latest technology, why not skip email and websites altogether, and go straight to the summit: Cell phones. That’s right, you can send text messages instantly to all your kin. Many cell phones support multiple recipients and groups, so you could hit all your family and friends in one wireless whack. Of course, many service providers charge for this service. You can skirt that issue by using any of the various free software or website applications that let you send text messages for free. But even if you have to pay for it, a few cents a message is a lot less than the cost of postage, especially with the postage rate hikes expected this very next month.

Of course, choosing the mode of communication is only half the battle. You also have to decide what to say. With a cell phone you can’t be long winded and wordy. No one is going to have patience with your text message, “The families of Jon Dough and Jayne Smith wish the pleasure of your presence….” It’s already off the screen, and no one likes to scroll.

The trend with cell phone text messages is to be short and concise. They just need the facts: who, what, when, where. And it helps to know the lingo. Use letters to stand in for words when possible: “RU” for “Are you.” Drop vowels and unimportant letters in common words. Don’t spell out the obvious. Everyone knows JD is Jon Dough. So how could you do it? Behold the wedding invitation of the future:

JD+JS 6/24@TVILLE CH. UR CMNG? Y/N

Microsoft is Dead

Published
by
Michael
on April 26, 2007
in Technology
. 0 Comments

LOL. Yes, the title of this post if a little over the top. But that’s the expression used by Paul Graham in his blog entry. If you have any interest in competing computer operating systems, please read it. You may also enjoy the vigorous reader feedback over at MacDailyNews in reaction to his post.

I don’t HATE Microsoft — even though my repeating “Microsoft is Dead” makes me smile and laugh involuntarily. I used to be very supportive of them (especially in opposition to Mac OS 7, 8, and 9), but lately they have become so inept and mired in the past that I cannot enjoy their OS anymore. Mac OS X is so much better, which I’ve been using ever since shortly after it was released a number of years ago. I’ve tried Linux, but it left me unimpressed, and I haven’t tried any of the more recent Linux distributions such as Ubuntu. OS X works very well. And while it’s not perfect, I say it’s the best OS available for general users.

An Odd Coincidence

Published
by
Michael
on April 25, 2007
in Christian and Journal
. 1 Comment

Recently while working on the May 2007 issue of 3ABN World magazine, I realized that our two feature stories that month had two unusual similarities: In Feature 1, a short biography about Pastor Kenneth Cox, the article told how the first city where Pastor Cox and his wife worked was Albuquerque. In Feature 2, recounting how a layperson named Beth Skarritt got 3ABN on cable in her hometown, which happened to be Albuquerque, the story explained that the first company that Beth worked with in Albuquerque was Cox Communications. So in this issue, both “Albuquerque” and “Cox” play an early, pivotal role in the events both stories describe. (Not to mention that Kenneth Cox can now be seen in Albuquerque on the Cox Communications cable network that Beth and her fellow supporters got 3ABN onto.)

I asked the editor, Bobby Davis, what he thought about this. Turns out it was not intentional, and he indicated that he was not aware of it until I had pointed it out. He thought the coincidence was “odd.”

3ABN + Amazing Facts

Published
by
Michael
on April 19, 2007
in Journal
. 0 Comments

At this very moment (starting 8:00 pm Central Time), 3ABN and Amazing Facts are announcing on 3ABN Today the union of these two ministries. You can watch the broadcast online at www.3abn.org (if you miss it tonight, it will re-air Friday morning, April 20; check 3ABN’s listings for the exact time).

When I first learned about this, I was so excited. I think this is a great move for both 3ABN and Amazing Facts. The boards of both ministries unanimously voted to approve the start of the joining process. However, it will be some weeks or months before all the details are worked out. At this point, it appears that Doug Batchelor of Amazing Facts will be the new president of the joined organizations; Danny Shelton will continue as a part of the ministry, but in a different capacity; both campuses in Illinois and California will continue to operate; some redundant operations will eventually be united and streamlined; some staff will probably relocate, but most will probably remain where they are (Doug plans to remain in California); most or all employees will be retained, and additional job openings may appear; both organizations will start using both ministry names on all their publications; both branches of the new organization will continue to run under their existing names, perhaps indefinitely. Remember, all of these details still need to be finalized by a new board of directors. Nothing is set in concrete yet.